Mathematician of the Week
Diophantus
Diophantus of Alexandria was an Ancient Greek Mathematician born between A.D. 200 and 214 and died between 284 and 298 at age 84).
Diophantus is sometimes called "the father of algebra" and was the author of a series of books called Arithmetica. These texts deal with solving algebraic equations but unfortunately many of the texts are now lost.
Interestingly, when studying Arithmetica, Pierre de Fermat concluded that a certain equation considered by Diophantus had no solutions, and noted without elaboration that he had found "a truly marvelous proof of this proposition," now referred to as Fermat's Last Theorem.
This was eventually proven by Andrew Wiles after 8 years work and was published in 1994. It led to tremendous advances in number theory, and the study of Diophantine equations ("Diophantine geometry"). Diophantus was the first Greek mathematician who recognized fractions as numbers; thus he allowed positive rational numbers for the coefficients and solutions.
In modern use, Diophantine equations are usually algebraic equations with integer coefficients, for which integer solutions are sought.
Diophantus is sometimes called "the father of algebra" and was the author of a series of books called Arithmetica. These texts deal with solving algebraic equations but unfortunately many of the texts are now lost.
Interestingly, when studying Arithmetica, Pierre de Fermat concluded that a certain equation considered by Diophantus had no solutions, and noted without elaboration that he had found "a truly marvelous proof of this proposition," now referred to as Fermat's Last Theorem.
This was eventually proven by Andrew Wiles after 8 years work and was published in 1994. It led to tremendous advances in number theory, and the study of Diophantine equations ("Diophantine geometry"). Diophantus was the first Greek mathematician who recognized fractions as numbers; thus he allowed positive rational numbers for the coefficients and solutions.
In modern use, Diophantine equations are usually algebraic equations with integer coefficients, for which integer solutions are sought.